High Fives Foundation

Merry Christmas, everyone! I was sick on Christmas Eve, and felt a little better on Christmas Day, and I’m still getting better. I thought I would take this time at home to do some blogging, because it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.

I think it’s important to talk about the organization that has been so helpful in my recovery- the High Fives Foundation. I would in no way be where I am today without their support. They have selected me as a Winter Empowerment Athlete, and they’ve been so gracious in supporting what I need throughout my recovery. LearningRx brain training, a personal trainer, massages, speech therapy and neuro-feedback is what they’ve supported me with so far. I did the brain training almost right after I got out of the hospital, which was maybe too early for me because I got too easily frustrated. But my massuese said that I wouldn’t be as far along if she didn’t work on my body so soon. Also, the personal trainer has been great for me, because she’s helped me get stronger (duh) and has helped work on the parts of my body that were effected by my ski accident.The speech therapy I went through at CU Boulder was monumental in improving my speech..

I cannot say enough good things about this organization. I’ve kind of reached a point, though, that in my recovery, things will only get better if I work on them and force them to. My brother and my mom said last night that the only way my right hand will get better (I’m left handed now after the injury) is if I make it do simple things. For instance, last night, we were playing Mexican Train, which is a game using dominoes, and once we were done, they challenged me to put them back with my right hand, instead of my left. That made me angry, but I did it anyway, and now I realize how important simple things like that are after my injury.

After I get home from the holidays, I will try yoga at home. Many people have suggested that it will be beneficial, and I tried the laying down kind- yin, but that wasn’t hard enough for me. It was almost like I could take a nap. But since my balance is off, I got a few Christmas yoga dvd’s to try at home. When I’m at home, my balance won’t matter, because there’s no one watching, so I can try and fail as hard as I want to. I will set a regimen for it, like going to a class would, and hopefully my balance will improve if I really focus on it.

A fellow High Fives athlete, Jocelyn, posted this video of her skiing recently on Facebook. Since she’s a much better skier than me after our injuries (and hers caused her to be a paraplegic), that is the inspiration I need to re-focus on my recovery.